The station is located in Southwest Washington, with entrances at the L'Enfant Plaza shopping mall concourse at 9th and D Streets, on D Street between 6th and 7th Streets, and at Maryland Avenue and 7th Street. It is in the center of an area crowded with federal buildings and is a transfer point allowing passengers to easily cross the Potomac between Virginia and central Washington, making it a very busy station. L'Enfant Plaza is named for the French-American planner of Washington, D.C., Pierre (Peter) Charles L'Enfant.[5]

Directly above the Metro station, on Virginia Avenue between 6th and 7th Streets, is the Virginia Railway Express L'Enfant station, which provides commuter rail service both to Fredericksburg and to Manassas Regional Airport in Bristow. Numerous Amtrak trains pass through this station, most without stopping. There is one side platform on the north side of the station with 3 tracks passing through.[6] There are walkways on each side of the station that lead to 6th and 7th Streets respectively.[6]

L'Enfant Plaza was the setting of a 2007 Pulitzer Prize winning article by Washington Post reporter Gene Weingarten. World-famous classical violinist Joshua Bell performed outside the station at rush hour disguised as a street musician. Only seven people stopped to watch him for a minute or more. In total, he made $52.47 performing for 45 minutes, including $20 from the one person who recognized him. Three days earlier, Bell had performed at a concert in Boston where seats started at $100.[14]

On January 12, 2015, smoke began appearing in the station which suspended service at L'Enfant Plaza during the afternoon rush hour. The smoke caused 1 death and 84 people were treated at local hospitals. Green Line and Yellow Line trains were temporarily suspended while Blue Line, Orange Line, and Silver Line trains bypassed L'Enfant Plaza and continued normal service.[15]